Personal trainers (especially self-employed) are what I like to call “hustlers”.  We are usually kings and queens of multi-tasking, burning the midnight oil programming for clients and then up at the crack of dawn to train (themselves or clients).

Looking for multiple income streams is the best way to increase your revenue as a personal trainer and online training is a great step; however, for the already busy trainer sometimes this can be very overwhelming as the online client load builds up.

It becomes hard to keep everyone happy and feeling like you truly care about their success in reaching their fitness goals.  Remembering to check-in with online clients before they have to email you to ask for a new program or send you their check-in results is one thing I find is key to keeping client’s satisfied. Client’s know you are busy (that’s a good thing, it means you are good at what you do), but you don’t ever want them to feel like you are so busy that you don’t care and they are just another “number” putting money in your account every month.  There are many features that Trainerize has added to help you stay organized and keep your online personal training client’s happy.

Here is an organization checklist I created to help you stay on top of your online training business.

1. Create a system for everything!

This is your own way of dealing with a new client sign-up, assessments/consultation scripts, pre-typed emails for new sign-ups and check-in emails etc.  Having a system may take some time to set up initially, but it will save you time and brain power in the long run and keep your business running smoothly.

2. Manage your email traffic

Consider signing up for an email server where you can upload all of your online training email addresses and make your life much easier!  With these servers you can create auto responders for when a client emails you (new or current client) that will be sent out immediately to  the client and buy you some time before having to respond to them.  For example, if you have a new client sign up you can have an auto responder be sent to them without you having to do anything thanking them for signing up, providing them with instructions to fill out their intake form, and you could have a little blurb about when they can expect to hear from you.  For example, “Thank you for making the decision to improve your health and an even bigger thank you for letting me be the one to help!  I look forward to getting you started on a program and please expect an email from me within the next 24 hours with further instructions on how to get started.  In the meantime, can you please head into your online account and fill out your consultation form and get yourself familiar with my software.” Or something along those lines (I just wrote that on the spot, but you get the idea right?).

3. Use reminders to stay sharp

Create reminders in your smartphone or wherever you keep your schedule to check-in with certain clients.  Trainerize has a great feature that will remind you when a client’s program is ending and they are “needing attention”; however, this is not the only time you should be checking in with them.  Once you schedule a workout into a client’s calendar, create a few reminders in your phone a week or two apart to check-in and see how they are doing.

4. Prepare motivational messages

Pre-write a month’s worth of motivational/update emails to send out to all of your online clients to send out each week.  Trainerize allows you to send out a group message through the app to all of your client’s at once,which will save you a lot of time.  These don’t have to be really long emails, just a quick little motivational quote and a little message to show you care reminding them you are here for them and to message you if they ever have questions/concerns etc.  Sometimes if you have long term self sufficient clients on 5/6 week programs you might go a few weeks without being in contact with them, so this is a great way to keep the connection alive with your clients.

I could go on forever, but those are the top 4 tips I would give to anyone thinking about expanding their business to online training.

Hope you’re all having a great week!